Anyone own a Scheppach tiger wetstone sharpener??

[inkyblue]

Looking for real user reviews for the Tiger 2000 sharpener by Scheppach, and if its worth the money. Seems to be the cheapest wetstone grinder of its type, and I just could not afford a Tormek! OK thanks

 

[Rorschach]

I think the rutlands is the cheapest, I have one and it's superb value for money.

 

[Adam9453]

I've got the tiger and it's ace. Highly recommended.
I'd recommend getting a decent leather strop as that makes all the difference to the sharpness you can achieve

 

[Eric The Viking]

I have the Rutlands "Dakota" Tormekkalike one. It's OK.

The first one blew its motor and was replaced, but I've had this one for several years. I remember it took ages to get the accessories as Rutlands said they'd be in next week.

Don't attempt to flatten the back of anything on the side of the wheel -- I don't believe it can be done, and i've almost wrecked things when I've tried - way too tempting.

They're very good for repairing damaged tools (grinding rather than honing), but I still struggle to get a really good edge - manage it occasionally but not consistently. I think the Tormek wheels are probably much better quality but you do pay for that. I've no idea if I can get a replacement wheel - there's nothing listed on Rutlands's site - but mine isn't wearing down too fast at the moment.

 

[Rorschach]

I use my old tormek wheels on the rutlands, big improvement over the stock stone. Use the stock stone for roughing the bevel and then switch to something fine, I use an off brand japanese water stone.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I've got a Tiger 2000. The grinder works nicely if slowly - good for routine sharpening, a bit slow for major reshaping. Sometimes the water ends up trickling everywhere, tempting to stand it on a plastic tea tray.

The leather wheel is of more limited use; going from the grinder to the leather wheel does not get a good edge without hand sharpening on a stone in between. I do like it to get that nice polished bevel look when toolmaking though.

The drive is by friction from the motor to the inner flange of the leather wheel, and can slip if you apply too much pressure. Avoid doing this as it seems to drop little rolls of rubber roller out of the bottom of the machine, suggesting that it will shorten the life of the drive roller. Mine has survived a good few years though so far, and is still going strong.

 

[Eric The Viking]

PS to my earlier thing, prompted by Tony above:

It's taken me about five years to bed-in my honing leather wheel - regular applications of Autosol and three-in-one oil have now got it to the stage where it does actually hone fairly well. You can hear when you're dubbing the edge over, as there is a very obvious change in the sound the wheel makes. that's the worst thing about them - the honing wheel takes no prisoners: go slightly too far and you instantly switch from getting a razor edge to starting all over again. I don't even bother when sharpening plane irons - unless the edge is narrow enough to fit the honing wheel (or I'm doing a kitchen knife), I'll switch to Scary Sharp (or stropping on the thigh of my jeans) to get the final edge.

Ought to wash them more, I guess...

 

[Alexfn]

maybe worth a look?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EX-DEMO-Trito ... 2521048792

 

[Eric The Viking]

maybe worth a look?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EX-DEMO-Trito ... 2521048792

Jolly good shout.

Apart from Tormek themselves (who stand apart from all this), there's evidently one Chinese factory, with three or four designs each of case, clamps, water troughs, guide rails and handles, etc. They'll thus do endless permutations, and they evidently have a powder-coating paint shop and label printing operation too.

I doubt this is any better/worse than any of the others - the metal box looks identical to the "Dakota" one ('cept it's orange, not green). The water trough and the honing wheel (and thus the drive arrangements) and the plane iron carrier look identical. The grindstone itself actually looks better quality (but it's rather hard to tell from a stock photo).

And if it's been used for demos, there's a game chance the motor won't die within a week ( :-( ).

Free carriage too:

Time for those Private Eye lawyers, methinks: Grabbit and Runne.

E.

PS: "High grade diamond grindstone"? Seriously? I'd expect average performance and be chuffed if it's better. But it's about the price we ought to be paying for this sort of thing.

 

[Rorschach]

On my tormek I mixed jewellers rouge and vaseline to make a honing paste, worked really well. Not used anything on my rutlands machine yet but will probably use the same mix.

 

[Alexfn]

I have one. Does look an awful lot like the Dakota.

The diamond stone is perhaps agressive but i like it because it sharpens up my tools quick and after a quick go on the leather honing wheel they are sharp enough for anything i do. I use it for my turning tools and chisels.

Wondering if i can get a jig wide enough to do my planer blades

 

[inkyblue]

Many thanks everyone. Tempted by that Triton one on ebay, but doesnt come with a warantee of any kind with it being used. Thanks again for all the input!

 

[Rorschach]

Any more info on that diamond stone? I have a diamond wheel made for the tormek but it's a cast iron wheel with embedded dust, more like a lapping plate really, it is superb for putting a fine edge on carbide tools but sooo slow.

 

[Alexfn]

They sell the stone on its own. Think it retails for around 80 quid so a bit steep. Id take a guess at it fitting the tormek, want me to check the bore? I have some old saw blades laying around so can try it on tct and report back

 

[Eric The Viking]

On my tormek I mixed jewellers rouge and vaseline to make a honing paste, worked really well. Not used anything on my rutlands machine yet but will probably use the same mix.

Good idea. I have a jamjar of it I bought years ago, but never used, and I noticed this afternoon the tube of Autosol was almost used up. Vaseline probably wouldn't dry like Autosol and 3-in-1, but that leather wheel does chuck black muck everywhere. I'll try it.

 

[Rorschach]

They sell the stone on its own. Think it retails for around 80 quid so a bit steep. Id take a guess at it fitting the tormek, want me to check the bore? I have some old saw blades laying around so can try it on tct and report back

If it's diamond then it will work fine on carbide. Have a got a link to the one you are talking about?

 

[Rorschach]

On my tormek I mixed jewellers rouge and vaseline to make a honing paste, worked really well. Not used anything on my rutlands machine yet but will probably use the same mix.

Good idea. I have a jamjar of it I bought years ago, but never used, and I noticed this afternoon the tube of Autosol was almost used up. Vaseline probably wouldn't dry like Autosol and 3-in-1, but that leather wheel does chuck black muck everywhere. I'll try it.

The vaseline will stay "wet" for years which is why I chose it, plus it was cheap and on hand. If you put too much on the wheel then it does make a bit of a mess but after a few uses it settles down and it fairly clean to use. I use the same mix on my leather strops, does a great job on planes, chisels, knives etc. A little goes a long way, I mixed up about 2 teaspoons of rouge with about 1ish teaspoons of vaseline to make a very thick smooth paste, I put it in one of those little jam jars you get from hotels, still have half of it left. First use you need to put a good bit on and work it in with your fingers (wear a rubber glove!), after that first charging you only need a little smear every now and again.